Thanx to all participated last nite in some more impromptu, unofficial SFCCL events. We had a good turnout for another SURVIVOR SERIES battle, as well as a small trial run of a new event, WAR GAMES.

For those unfamiliar with the SURVIVOR SERIES, the format has each member’s 4-fighter team battling another member’s 4-fighter team in an elimination style matches. Last nite, due to the number of players, we shortened the teams to 3-fighters in a single elimination tournament. Below is the list of participating members:

The winner of the SURVIVOR SERIES event last nite was our new Gold Champion, xxUltimaCloudxx. Although I’m not sure if his Rufus made an appearance. Congrats to him and the runner-up, xx_VON_xx. This style of event seems to be popular with all members and will probably be the format for the next Official SFCCL Event in January.

Following the SS battles, a couple of us stuck around to play the first-ever WAR GAMES. Like the other events played thus far, the WAR GAMES is another style of play my friends & family came up with back in the Super Street Fighter 2 SNES days. The current format is different from the original idea as a result of trying to play all matches within a short time period. No one likes to be playing for hours, so we shortened the format. The current format is to create some dynamic matches that purposefully put all players/fighters on edge. Specifically, a pair of dice are rolled to determine how long (in seconds) each round will be and how many rounds will be played. All matches were best 2 out of 3, but the length of those matches varied. For example, a match could be 1-round long with a 30 second time limit. Other matches could be 5-rounds with a 60 second time limit. The dice determine the number of rounds and time for each match.

The reaction from the members last nite was mixed to say the least, which I think proved to be exactly what I intended when I came up with this format. Only 4 members stuck around after the SS matches, so we had a short, simply tournament. Only 3 matches were played but each had their own format:

3 rounds – 30 seconds1 round – 30 seconds5 rounds – 30 seconds

Every combination is possible with the roll of the dice. A match could be 1 round, 30 seconds long while another match could be 1 round, 99 seconds long. Other matches could be 3 rounds, 60 seconds long. Special thanx to the members who did play:

SALonghornK-Money83CcinoonexxUltimaCloudxx

CCINOONE won the small tourney, but wasn’t exactly thrilled with the concept. I, personally, never had more fun losing! That may sound strange, but K-Money and I had a great match (3 rounds, 30 seconds long) in which each of us won certain rounds at the very last second with a key hit or combo. There were some real great but funny rounds. There were certain rounds I too an early lead on and then tried to make sure I held on, while there were other rounds where I was scrambling to get the final hit to win the round.

The format is meant to put every player on tilt. The shortened rounds force you to create new strategies to win, as well as giving lesser skilled players a chance to upset better skilled players, as seen last nite. The longer, standard matches (5 rounds, 99 seconds) will benefit the better players. But that is the overall idea of the WAR GAMES – to put any player in a match they are not comfortable with. Sometimes a round can be stolen by a player who pulls off their Ultra attack at the end of a round, while other matches will require every bit of skill to win. I hope other members begin to appreciate this style of play as it ultimately gives every player in the league a chance to win a SFCCL special event. This is my personal favorite style of play thus far. While I won't post a new blog everytime we have an unofficial event, I do want to run the SS and WG events a few more times to see how smoothly they run online and to get some feedback from League members.

This was another trial-run, unofficial event. These impromptu events give me a chance to run these ideas in preparation for an official event with League prizes like the ones exercised last week. The Official Events will be announced weeks in advance so everyone has a chance to participate. Thanx again to all members who participated last nite and for putting up with my crazy ideas. It’s all meant to have fun with fellow members of the League and to bring some variety to the standard play of SFIV.

Be ready any late nite……you could be next to play in the SURVIVOR SERIES or the WAR GAMES!

First off, Happy New Year to all SFCCL members! The year 2010 should be a very entertaining and exciting year for all Street Fighter fans, especially with SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV coming out in April.

Week 20 is now officially history. It proved to be a very volatile week in terms of special matches and many no-shows, however, nearly mirrored the results from last week in terms of completed, forfeited, double-forfeited, and draw matches. I really wish the completed matches percentage below would be much higher as it makes the League better, more fun for everyone, and especially easy on me as I then don’t have to ‘decide’ matches to close out the week. To review, a match results in a ‘Forfeit’ when a member does not play his 2 matches, thus giving the victory to the other member provided they played their other match. A ‘Draw’ is declared when both members played their other match but did not play their 2nd match. A ‘Double-Forfeit’ occurs when neither member played their 2 matches, and can lead to being dropped from the League for 2 weeks of inactivity.

WEEK 20 STATS:

Completed matches: 40 out of 73 matches (55%)

Forfeited matches: 20 out of 73 matches (27%)

Draw matches: 5 out of 73 (7%)

Double-Forfeit matches: 8 out of 73 matches (11%)

As a result of the above decisions, 12 members have left the SFCCL this week. Two members voluntarily dropped out (THE_SNKE & THE_HOOBGOOBLER). I personally thank them for the courtesy of letting me know and appreciate their contributions to the League. The other 10 members were dropped due to not playing their matches. These types of players never cease to amaze me. For example, one member was dropped after never once playing a match. He forfeited his only 4 matches. Another member was dropped after not playing his matches against the same person for 2 weeks, a total of 30 days to play 2 matches. I’ll ask it every time – why join if you don’t play your matches?

We do have 11 new members joining this week. Please welcome the following members to the SFCCL, including some members from countries new to the League: GAMBITK, BPKING, CRIMAIL, FRAN_GIL, DIVINE_HAND, BACKFORWARDPUNCH, ANTHILION, MELANDEEZA, ND2130, BLACKZEPELLIN, and former member, UFC_JK.

The special Prize matches last week proved to be very useful to those that earned the prizes in the 2v2 Tournament in November. xxULTIMACLOUDxx was successful in winning his match to gain entry into the Gold Division, and then went on to defeat the Grand Champion, ElGeneral’s Guile. SBL21 was also successful in his matches, gaining entry into the Gold Division and setting himself up to be the new #1 Contender for the Gold Championship. DELTRON2020 won his match to become the SILVER Division champion, yet lost in his first title defense. SFGODFATHER challenged the A Division Champion (DJCacara’s ABEL), but lost.

All of these special matches were earned by these members for participating in the Official 2v2 Tournament in November. I hope to have another Official Event sometime in January, possibly the Survivor Series. Stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks.

The SFCCL is 72 members (144 fighters) strong going into Week 21. With 12 members (24 fighters) dropping out, there were plenty of ‘auto-promotions’. As long as you played your matches, no matter if you won or lose, your fighter benefited by moving up. Of course, if you won your match, your fighter moved up even higher.

Week 21’s MATCH OF THE WEEK was a tough choice between two championship fights at the top of the Gold and Silver Divisions. However, the matchup between Silver Champion Marcopolo177’s GUILE vs. #1 Contender xxUltimaCloudxx BALROG is especially interesting. Marcopolo177 is from the USA and joined the League in Week 10 thru the SFCCL website. He has played all 12 of his matches with his Guile, and compiled a record of (10-2). His Guile made a steady march up the rankings into the Gold Division, where he lost last week in the Prize match versus the eventual Gold Champion, xxUltimaCloudxx RUFUS. He fell to the Silver Division, but quickly rebounded by winning his 2nd match with Guile last week. With the Auto-Promotions, his Guile moved up to Silver Division champion. Marcopolo’s other fighter, Ryu, is also in the Silver Division. xxUltimaCloudxx is one of our six Canadian members. He also joined the League in Week 10 thru the SFCCL website. CLOUD volunteered to help me run some of the official events, like the 2v2 Tourney, and he is in the Top 15 of all League members in the Capcom stats. Cloud’s BALROG has a record of (9-2). Cloud’s other fighter, Rufus, is the new Gold Champion. He has the rare opportunity to own both the Gold and Silver championships. The only other player to do that was LUX at the inception of the League.I do want to once again extend my THANK YOU to all those active members doing their best to complete their matches every week. I greatly appreciate your commitment to the League. Week 21 rankings and matches have been posted, as well as various updates throughout the site.

DEADLINE TO COMPLTE WEEK 21 MATCHES HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO A FULL 14 DAYS, DUE TO THE NEW YEARS HOLIDAY. THE DEADLINE IS SUNDAY, JANUARY 10th, 2010.

First of all, Happy Holidays to all everyone and their extended families. Be sure to get wrapped up in the season of giving and thanks.

Week 19 is now in the Archive books. Overall, we had a strong week of competition. 40 of the 73 scheduled matches were completed (55%). 5 of the 73 scheduled matches resulted in ‘Draws’, where each member only completed one of their two matches last week (7%). 19 of the 73 scheduled matches resulted in ‘Forfeits’, where one member failed to play either of his matches (26%). Finally, 9 of the 73 scheduled matches resulted in ‘Double Forfeits’, where both members failed to play their 2 matches this week (12%). These members should warned that they will be dropped if from the SFCCL if they fail to play again this week.

We lost 5 members last week. Four of those members voluntarily left (VIETNAMAZING, MR. FLOWERS, BLASTFURNACE2K, and CLUBAMERICAN). I sincerely thank them for playing in the League and will welcome them back anytime. The fifth member was dropped for inactivity.

Ironically, we do have 5 new members joining the League for Week 20, although one is a returning member. Please welcome our newest street fighters: SNOWYSUNDAY, LUNCHBOX956, DANNYHIKO, ENIGMAMOUNT, and returning member, MANWITHNOARMS.

Now some members are getting a special gift this week! As you might recall, we held our 2nd Official 2v2 Tournament last month. The 3 winning teams each earned the right to play a unique match going into Week 20. The 1st place team of VIETNAMAZING and xxULTIMACLOUDxx each earned the opportunity to challenge anyone in the League & play in their own inter-divisional match. Unfortunately, with Vietnamazing leaving us, only UltimaCloud will get that special match (he has challenged the #1 Contender in the GOLD Division). The 2nd place team of SBL21 and DELTRON2020 earned the opportunity to challenge anyone in the next highest division for one of their fighters (SBL is challenging the #3 ranked fighter in the GOLD Division & Deltron2020 is challenging the SILVER Division champion). The 3rd place team of MANWITHNOARMS and SFGODFATHEReach earned the opportunity to challenge anyone in their own division for one of their fighters. With Manwithnoarms dropping out last week, he lost that prize & will have to restart from the beginning of the rankings. All of the Prize Matches are posted in the FIGHT SCHEDULE. In essence, each of the members playing in these specials matches will have matches this week. The special match will then determine who they play in their normal weekly matches as the results will become effective immediately. Good luck to all members!

EDIT - SFGodfather has made his challenge to the A Division Champion, DJCacara ABEL, and will fight him prior to the regular weekly matches.

Be sure to participate in our Official Events as the prizes for winning will be these personal matches. Those being challenged shouldn’t take it personally – the other members simply want your ranking! Any member could play in the Official Events and protect themselves from being picked on later.

As for the rest of Week 20, we are still 73 members (146 fighters) strong. With 5 members/10 fighters dropping out, we did have some small ‘auto-promotions’. All fighters that played benefited from these vacancies. All fighters involved in Draws, Forfeits, or Double Forfeits did not move up. Again, this is the penalty for not playing.

Week 20’s MATCH OF THE WEEK is another Abel vs. Balrog match, but this time it is in the A Division between DJCacara’s ABEL vs. Deltron2020’s BALROG(pending the DJCacara vs. SFGodfather Prize Match). DJCacara is one of our international members who hails from the Dominican Republic. He has taped some of his matches, and they have been added to the League’s Video page. His ABEL is undefeated at (4-0) and he has yet to miss play any of his matches. His other fighter of choice is Sagat, who is also undefeated in the A Division. He joined the SFCCL in Week 16 after finding the league on the Shoryuken.com forums. His screen name on SRK.com is ‘DJ Cacara’. Deltron2020 is from the USA and in the Top 25 of Capcom Grade Points among League members. His BALROG is also undefeated at (5-0) and also has yet to miss playing any of his matches. His other fighter, Ryu, who is also undefeated, is involved in the Special 2v2 Prize matches in the Bronze Division. He joined the SFCCL in Week 15 after finding the league on the Shoryuken.com forums. His screen name on SRK.com is ‘Abelfanatic’.

I do want to once again extend my THANX to all those active members doing their best to complete their matches every week. I greatly appreciate your commitment to the League.

Week 20 rankings and matches have been posted, as well as various updates throughout the site. The Capcom stats thru Week 20 will be updated later. DEADLINE TO COMPLTE WEEK 20 MATCHES HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO A FULL 16 DAYS, DUE TO THE HOLIDAYS. THE DEADLINE IS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2009.

Last nite, I hosted an unofficial SFCCL event. The unofficial events are basically ‘trial runs’ for get some data and information on how an official event will work. They are usually impromptu gatherings based on whoever is online at the time I want to run the event. Those members online will get invited to a SFCCL text chat room where I can organize the event.

Last nite’s event was called SURVIVOR SERIES. Those that followed wrestling back in the days of the old WWF will remember the November PPV by that name in its original format. Teams of 4 wrestlers would team up in an elimination match against another team of 4 fighters. In the case of the SFCCL, one member would have a 4-fighter team go up against another member with his/her own 4-fighters. The matches were limited to 3-round matches. If a fighter was defeated, the member would then choose a 2nd fighter, and then a 3rd, and finally their 4th fighter. Only when a member’s 4 fighters were all defeated, a winner would be decided. The only restriction on the fighters was that they all had to be different, and once defeated, could not play again until the next round. With 8 players playing last nite, we did a double-elimination tournament which resulted in a lot of great matches. The drawback to that tournament was the event lasting over 2 hours. In the end, fun was had by all.

Congratulations to the winner of the first-ever SFCCL Survivor Series, DOPEUYUU. He was able to go thru the entire event without losing a team match, meaning his team of 4-fighters was never defeated. He met EPEDEMICC in the finals, which emerged from the loser’s bracket. For winning the whole thing, DopeUyuu gets a "way to go!", and that’s it. It was UNOFFICIAL, remember? In all seriousness, very impressive fighting, DopeUyuu. We all look forward to tracking your progress in the League for weeks to come.

I believe all the members enjoyed this type of special matches. Hopefully, we can bring this style of event to the next Official SFCCL Special Event. I want to do some more trial runs and variations of the rules before actually planning an Official Event. For anyone that is interested in these ‘trial runs’, I usually conduct these impromptu events late nite when I have a lot of free time. So be on the lookout, all you nite owls.

An Official SFCCL event will be scheduled for the evening hours most convenient to all, such as the last 2v2 Tournament. Also, the winners of the Official Events are awarded prizes that can be used in the Weekly Ranked Matches. Once again, thanx to all that participated last nite.

Good luck in Week 19 to everybody. The DEADLINE to complete your matches is this Wednesday, December 9th, 2009.

SFCCL-SALonghorn

Creator & Administrator of the SFCCL

PSN: SFCCL-SALonghornPSN: SALonghornI've been playing Street Fighter since it was released for the SNES, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior. That was over 20 years ago! With the release of Street Fighter 4 for the PS3, I thought it would be fun to organize an online league. The idea for this league dates back to my SNES days when my friends & family created a Champion & Contender system. Back then, we were barely 6 people who would get together once a week. Obviously, the system has grown...

The SFCCL launched in March of 2009. Originally composed of 16 Official PSN message board members, the league continued for the next 14 months ending with the first-ever SUPER BRAWL tournament in April 2010. Including all matches during the season and tournaments, there were a total of 1,400 matches in Season 1 and nearly 200 members over that time period. Season 2 began in June 2010 and had over 200 players participating with 38 final members in Super Brawl II.